Stalemates such as those currently being experienced in France and America, with the present government shut-down, are all often accompanied by bad-tempered refusals to negotiate – even to the point of dissing and dismissing political opponents and employees. These are not the best ways to bring about God’s eternal purposes in the world, because they are either indicative of chaos and insecurity or of heartless autocratic ways.

Let’s turn to a profoundly godly moment in the history of the Church, the Council of Jerusalem that we read about in Acts 15, which can serve as a model for deadlocked situations. For had the early Church reached the wrong conclusions and taken the wrong measures at this point, it would have been truly disastrous for its future. In fact, it could be argued that, after the gift of the Holy Spirit and the inauguration of the Church, the decision reached by the Council of Jerusalem is the most important event in Acts of the Apostles.

You will be familiar with the story: some men from Judea arrived at the thriving Gentile church in Antioch, and began teaching the brothers that they had to be circumcised in order to be saved. At some point the pressure of this Judaizing party led to even Peter, Barnabas and other leading Christians adopting kosher food, leaving Gentile believers effectively dining on separate tables and feeling decidedly miffed. Not to mention wondering if they were going to be expected to undergo the painful ordeal of an obligatory circumcision! Even the best of us can be taken in by plausible arguments and examples! Praise God for Paul having both the insight and the courage to rebuke him to his face for this. (See Gal. 2:1-14)

It was essential that this particular dispute, and the critical error they contained were addressed head on. The sacred books of other religions, and indeed of Greek and Roman biographies too, so flatter and elevate the central figure that all imperfections are airbrushed out. The Bible is refreshingly different in this respect in that it takes a long and candid look at the sins and failures of even the finest people – from Abraham, through King David to Simon Peter. Rather than rushing to diss and dismiss, to use the phrase I used earlier, may greater humility as well as wisdom prevail in the disputes of our day. Pride is ever the main obstacle – but faith, honesty and humility can triumph in any situation.

Having engaged in sharp debate with their visitors, the Church then appointed Paul, Barnabas and others to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.

Before seeing what happened in the all-important council meeting, let’s notice what they did not do. These leaders did not rush to proclaim their own views in whispering campaigns, or to slag them off in diatribes on Youtube. No, they made the journey to Jerusalem and got together to talk the matter through as brothers in Christ.

The early church fathers found the sight of the two leading apostles ‘going’ at each other in public so unedifying that they tried to play the whole episode down. Although commentators have differing opinions on whether this occurred before or after the Council of Jerusalem, (1) it seems clear to me that Peter and could never have sided so deeply and so smoothly endorsed Paul’s perspective unless he had had a change of heart, and the two of them were in agreement together.

Amongst the believers they met there were converted Pharisees. Isn’t that wonderful?! Perhaps not surprisingly, they agreed with the men from Judea on the question of circumcision, but Peter, as the acknowledged head of the Church, stood up and addressed the whole assembly – Pharisees included – as ‘Brothers,’ respectfully directing their attention to the ‘things that will last for ever’ (2 Cor. 4:18); that is, cleansing by faith and salvation by grace. [2]

When Paul and Barnabas rose to their feet and shared stories of what God had been doing amongst the Gentiles the ‘whole assembly fell silent.’ A deep awe came upon them, as they heard stories that must have reminded them of the miraculous conversion of Cornelius, which had first shown them that God had opened the door for Gentiles to be saved.

I love that they listened to each other and to God. How the Lord loves to see people responding in such ways!

What is clear, though, is that even in the earliest days of the church, there were sharp controversies between one might call conservatives and liberals, not to mention different ethnic groups. But just look how it was all resolved! When the time came to decide on the question before them, James ‘the Just,’ the leader of the church in Jerusalem (not one of the original twelve but the brother of Jesus) turned to the prophets for wisdom, and made his decision on the basis of a prophetic scripture from Amos before declaring.

“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not cause trouble for the Gentiles who are turning to God.”
(Acts 15:19)

When did you last hear someone announce that ‘we should not cause trouble’ for the benefit of those who stand outside the immediate circle of their own group? What a refreshing way to proceed! And what a precious example the Council of Jerusalem offers to help us live and work together, as well to apply Scripture properly and lovingly.

By insisting on four conditions not being waived but being ‘imposed’ on the new Gentile believers, some might argue (and no doubt did!) that James was making compromises on behalf of the brothers who believed the Gentiles should take on Jewish customs. But the requirements James announced were far from onerous, whereas those that the Judaizing party had been pressing for would certainly have massively impeded the spread of the gospel. Truly, the decision they reached seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to them!

The early church had a flexibility about it, then, that honoured the Lord, because they were concerned about the things that will last for ever. Circumcision by contrast is purely temporal: a mark of the flesh – whereas what God is looking for is the circumcision of the heart. Had James and the Council not reached the conclusion they did, Christianity would never have emerged as a worldwide religion, because new believers would have been expected to conform to the Jewish customs that Jesus’ substitutionary death had done away with.

Wow. Oh for such a heart of wisdom, truth and service in the heart of both governments and churches – in France, America and right across the world. May the Lord guide our scoping, looking, regarding, considering and contemplating, and help us to find and fix our eyes on the things that really matter.

[1] See this article for example and this article.
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash